1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mounting construction for mounting an exterior member such as an automotive bumper face to the body of an automotive vehicle and an automobile.
2. Background Art
Bumper mounting constructions employing retaining members such as clips for fixing an automotive bumper (also referred to as a bumper facer or bumper cover) to the body of an automobile are proposed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application, First Publication Nos. Hei6-45870U or Hei3-44054, or Japanese Patent Application, First Publication No. 2000-52900. In these conventional bumper mounting construction, retaining members (clips) are mounted on one of a bumper face and the body of a vehicle, and the retaining members are brought into engagement with engagement portions formed in the other, so that the bumper face is mounted on the vehicle at a predetermined position.
According to the construction of the conventional bumper mounting constructions, however, since an outer panel on the body of the vehicle and the bumper face are not directly positioned relative to each other, it has been difficult to regulate the position of an edge portion of the bumper face relative to the outer panel with high accuracy. For example, there are generated a gap or difference in level between the outer panel and the edge portion of the bumper face, this often leading to the deterioration in the appearance of the vehicle.
In addition, according to the bumper mounting constructions in which the bumper face is mounted in a recessed portion in the outer panel with the conventional holding members such as clips, when there occurs a need to remove the bumper face from the vehicle body it has been difficult to perform the removal of the bumper face from the outside of the vehicle body, and therefore, there has been a demand for improvement in efficiency of the removing work.
Thus, an object of the invention is to provide a mounting construction for mounting an automotive exterior member such as a bumper face at a predetermined position on an outer panel with good accuracy. Another object of the invention is to provide an automobile having such a mounting construction for mounting an automotive exterior member. Additionally, the other object of the invention is to facilitate the removal of the exterior member so mounted.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided an automotive exterior member mounting construction in which an exterior member and an outer panel are locked together in a state in which a flange portion of the exterior member is held between an inner wall of a recessed portion of the outer panel and a locking face of an retaining member, whereby the outer panel and the flange portion are allowed to be positioned directly relative to each other. Moreover, since the flange portion is shaped such that the thickness thereof reduces toward a distal end thereof, the distal end of the flange portion can easily be inserted in a gap between the inner wall and the retaining member.
According to a second aspect of the invention, when the flange portion is inserted between the inner wall and the locking face a raised portion fits in a lock hole, whereby the flange portion is prevented from being disengaged from the gap, and the position (so-called, the xe2x80x9cprotrusionxe2x80x9d) of the flange portion is regulated by this raised portion. Owing to this, the positions of an edge portion of the outer panel and an edge portion of the exterior member can be aligned with each other with good accuracy.
According to a third aspect of the invention, when there occurs a need to remove the exterior member from the retaining member displacing the exterior member slightly along a direction in which the flange portion extends allows the flange portion to climb up along an inclined guide face to finally ride on the raised portion so as to press down the raised portion, whereby the raised portion is disengaged from the lock hole. Thereafter, when the flange portion is drawn back to the outside of the vehicle the flange portion is disengaged from the retaining member.